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Barcelona, Spain (PortSEurope) November 12, 2019 – A total of 225 Japanese businessmen have attended a “business mission” event in Tokyo, organised by Barcelona port to promote its capabilities as a port for Japanese goods being exported to Europe.
The general director of the Ports & Harbors Bureau of the Ministry of Territory, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Masayuki Takada, said that Japan woud increase its commercial exchanges with Europe through the Port of Barcelona, a very important infrastructure for trade between Asia and the Mediterranean. Takada explained that Barcelona maintains relations with different ports in Japan, such as Yokohama or Tokyo, and that forecasts point to an increase in exchanges in traffic such as cars, wine and the meat sector.
On the other hand, the general director of the Japanese Ports & Harbors Bureau recalled that the deputy general director of Strategy and Commercial of the Port of Barcelona, Santiago Garcia-Milà, is the president of the IAPH (International Association of Ports & Harbors), an association which intends to intensify relations between ports internationally and Japan as a founding member. Masayuki Takada has also referred to the role of Barcelona in the field of cruises, which Japanese ports are developing.
The president of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, highlighted during a speech the “privileged situation” of the Catalan port for traffic with Japan. “The Port of Barcelona is the best node for the redistribution in Europe of goods from Asia,” he said. “Specifically, if you opt for Barcelona, Asian companies can benefit from a saving in distribution costs of up to 15% – compared to the ports of northern Europe – and a reduction of the carbon footprint of up to 20%”, said the president.
Mercè Conesa also emphasized the important role played by the Port of Barcelona as the main centre of entry and exit of trade between the Spain and Japan. In fact, the Port of Barcelona channels 50% of bilateral trade between the two countries in terms of volume and 55.9% with respect to the value of the goods. In 2018, total merchandise traffic between the Port of Barcelona and Japan increased by 17.9%, totaling almost 457,000 tons. In containers, growth stood at 24.8%, adding more than 30,400 TEU.
The president highlighted car traffic between the Port of Barcelona and Japan. Making it clear that “Barcelona is one of the main European hubs of the automotive industry, a sector in which Japan is leading ,” Mercè Conesa recalled that an important part of the new vehicles that are channeled through the Port of Barcelona originate in the Asian country. In 2018, 61,850 vehicles with origin or destination Japan passed through the port. The majority were imports, which totaled 49,239 units.
The importance of these traffics is evident in the fact that, currently, eight international shipping companies transport cars, four of them Japanese: Hoegh Autoliners, Nissan Motor Car Carrier, Mitsui OSK Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, K Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, Eukor Car Carriers and Hyundai Glovis, as highlighted by Carles Mayol, sales manager of the Port of Barcelona, during his speech on the opening day of the business mission.
The session had a large institutional representation. Participants included the Minister of Territory and Sustainability, Damià Calvet; the Minister of Business and Knowledge, Àngels Chacón; the ambassador of Spain to Japan, Jorge Toledo Albiñana, and leading Japanese authorities, such as the general director of the Tokyo port, Hiromi Furuya; the general secretary of the Japan Spain Business Co-operation Committee (JCCI), Kazuo Nishitani; and the executive vice president of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), Yoshitaka Hoshino.
During her speech at the inaugural session of the Business Mission, Mercè Conesa recalled that “all the ports in the world have a great challenge ahead: continue to generate prosperity.
And we have to do it creating a high economic and social value, always with environmental responsibility. The Port of Barcelona responds to this great challenge “betting on innovation, digital transformation and sustainability”.
The president of the Port of Barcelona has taken the opportunity to present the event “Smart Ports. Piers of the Future”, which will take place next week in the framework of the Smart City Expo World
Copyright (C) PortSEurope. All Rights Reserved. 2019.


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The beverage industry is keeping a close eye on the rippling effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. And in the US, there have been a few positives mixed in with the negatives, such as a boom for ecommerce.
Staying true to its mission to “find people where they are in the daytime,” RISE Brewing Co. is pivoting from distributing its nitro infused cold brew coffee in offices and at events to reach people instead in their homes as more Americans practice social...
New ready-to-drink cold brew from Italian coffee company illy was set to debut at Expo West this month. But despite the cancellation, plans are moving forward with the hopes of attracting younger customers to the upscale brand.
Amid quarantines, lockdowns and cancellations, beverage companies are doing what they can to stay afloat as well as help out in the community. We round-up the latest news from brands dealing with the crisis.
Plant-based milk alternative brand Elmhurst 1925 had big plans for Natural Products Expo West before its postponement earlier this month. However, its oat-based single serves, lattes and creamers will still launch in the US on schedule.
In an announcement that will not likely surprise many stakeholders, New Hope has decided to cancel (rather than postpone) the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim and focus its attention on Expo East in Philadelphia (Sept. 23-26).
New Extraordinary Coffee Workshops (ECWx) in Honduras and Guatemala are furthering Intelligentsia Coffee’s sustainability mission. They invest in and engage with smallholder farmers, improving coffee quality for the US supply chain.
From landing successful contracts with Heineken, ABB, Pernod Ricard, The Ocean Cleanup and Animo, entrepreneur Willemijn Schneyder is changing the way companies track data using digitlization set against a competitive Industry 4.0 environment.
New Hope’s Natural Products Expo West tradeshow was postponed due to coronavirus fears on Monday night, just hours before the first events were set to kick off on Tuesday. More than 80,000 people were initially expected to attend.

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Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Joey Pepe Smith, Jet Pangan in DOT’s new version of "Pilipinas, Tara Na"
"Where have you been in your own country?" ask our top singers.
Watch the new version of "Pilipinas, Tara Na"
(SPOT.ph) Get ready to see a new batch of celebs featured in the second version of "Pilipinas, Tara Na." The Department of Tourism (DOT) launched the new video on September 8, the second in a three-part series of promotional videos aimed to promote local tourism. The three songs are updated versions of the hit 2004 campaign, "Tara Na, Biyahe Tayo!" which also featured high-profile celebrities.
The new batch of celebs include Noel Cabangon, Aiza Seguerra, legendary rockstar Pepe Smith, The Dawn’s Jet Pangan, Jaya, Barbie Almalbis, Ogie Alcasid, and Regine Velasquez.
Watch the hit 2004 campaign "Tara Na, Biyahe Tayo"


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Universal Music Group has promoted Rob Wells to president of Global Digital Business, a new position created to oversee the label’s worldwide digital activities.
Formerly senior VP of digital, Wells will continue his existing responsibilities of creating digital distribution partnerships, but take them worldwide. That include wireless, online and digital retail. The idea behind the new position, according to UMG, is to create a more integrated approach to UMG’s digital strategy.
“Innovation, leadership and imagination are essential to expanding our digital business even further, and there is no one better equipped to do this than Rob,” said Lucian Grainge, co-CEO of UMG, in a statement. “Not only have he and his team been at the forefront of pioneering new models in such a challenging, competitive environment, but they have also led the way in developing new business ventures with key strategic media and tech partners. And he’s the best surfer I know.”
As part of the promotion, Wells will move from London to Los Angeles. He will report to UMG president and COO Zach Horowitz and COO of UMG International Max Hole.
Wells will be the point man now with several important licensing negotiations, including bringing Spotify to the U.S., Google’s ongoing music plans, and whatever Apple has up its sleeve. Wells has been a vocal proponent of Spotify in the past.


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The world is going green. “Green” is the color of environmental concern, the impetus that drives cutting-edge technology, the buzz word of the socially conscious. Concern for the environment and man’s impact on it is bringing a slew of new products to market, and pest Pest control singapore control is no exception. Environmentally-friendly pest control services are growing in popularity, particularly in the commercial sector. Even eco-savvy residential consumers are asking about natural alternatives to traditional pesticides, but their ardor often cools when confronted with the 10% to 20% cost differential and lengthier treatment times, sometimes several weeks.
The raising of America’s environmental consciousness, coupled with increasingly stringent federal regulations governing traditional chemical pesticides, appears to be shifting the pest control industry’s focus to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques. IPM is considered not only safer for the environment, but safer for people, pets and secondary scavengers such as owls. Of 378 pest management companies surveyed in 2008 by Pest Control Technology magazine, two-thirds said they offered IPM services of some sort.
Instead of lacing pest sites with a poisonous cocktail of powerful insecticides designed to kill, IPM focuses on environmentally-friendly prevention techniques designed to keep pests out. While low- or no-toxicity products may also be used to encourage pests to pack their bags, elimination and control efforts focus on finding and eliminating the causes of infestation: entry points, attractants, harborage and food.
Particularly popular with schools and nursing homes charged with guarding the health of the nation’s youngest and oldest citizens, those at greatest risk from hazardous chemicals, IPM is catching the attention of hotels, office buildings, apartment complexes and other commercial enterprises, as well as eco-conscious residential customers. Driven in equal parts by environmental concerns and health hazard fears, interest in IPM is bringing a host of new environmentally-friendly pest management products — both high- and low-tech — to market.
“Probably the best product out there is a door sweep,” confided Tom Green, president of the Integrated Pest Management Institute of North America, a non-profit organization that certifies green exterminating companies. In an Associated Press interview posted on MSNBC online last April, Green explained, “A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a pencil diameter. So if you’ve got a quarter-inch gap underneath your door, as far as a mouse is concerned, there’s no door there at all.” Cockroaches can slither through a one-eighth inch crevice.
IPM is “a better approach to pest control for the health of the home, the environment and the family,” said Cindy Mannes, spokeswoman for the National Pest Management Association, the $6.3 billion pest control industry’s trade association, in the same Associated Press story. However, because IPM is a relatively new addition to the pest control arsenal, Mannes cautioned that there is little industry consensus on the definition of green services.
In an effort to create industry standards for IPM services and providers, the Integrated Pest Management Institute of North America developed the Green Shield Certified (GSC) program. Identifying pest control products and companies that eschew traditional pesticides in favor of environmentally-friendly control methods, GSC is endorsed by the EPA, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and HUD. IPM favors mechanical, physical and cultural methods to control pests, but may use bio-pesticides derived from naturally-occurring materials such as animals, plants, bacteria and certain minerals.
Toxic chemical sprays are giving way to new, sometimes unconventional, methods of treating pests. Some are ultra high-tech like the quick-freeze Cryonite process for eliminating bed bugs. Others, like trained dogs that sniff out bed bugs, seem decidedly low-tech, but employ state-of-the-art methods to achieve results. For example, farmers have used dogs’ sensitive noses to sniff out problem pests for centuries; but training dogs to sniff out explosives and drugs is a relatively recent development. Using those same techniques to teach dogs to sniff out termites and bed bugs is considered cutting-edge.
Another new pest control technique is birth control. When San Francisco was threatened by mosquitoes carrying potentially life-threatening West Nile Virus, bicycle messengers were hired to cruise the city and drop packets of biological insecticide into the city’s 20,000 storm drains. A kind of birth control for mosquitoes, the new method was considered safer than aerial spraying with the chemical pyrethrum, the typical mosquito abatement procedure, according to a recent story posted on the National Public Radio website.
Naturally, there are efforts underway to build a better mousetrap. The innovative Track & Trap system attracts mice or rats to a food station dusted with fluorescent powder. Rodents leave a blacklight-visible trail that allows pest control experts to seal entry paths. Coming soon, NightWatch uses pheromone research to lure and trap bed bugs. In England, a sonic device designed to repel rats and squirrels is being tested, and the aptly named Rat Zapper is purported to deliver a lethal shock using just two AA batteries.


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CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Cape Coral Police are warning residents in surrounding areas about a phishing scam including Apple.
Police said there have been reports of an Apple phishing scam, and at least one of our law enforcement officers received five calls from the scammer.
The number on the caller ID is an actual Apple Store located in Miami, but it is actually not from that store, according to police.
There are apps that can mimic another phone number when someone calls you making it appear legitimate even if you Google the number.
The caller is an automated robotic voice saying that your iCloud account has been compromised and you should press 1 to get in touch with an Apple customer service agent.
Police warn do not fall for this scam.


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iPlayer is currently free for UK users
Users of the BBC iPlayer should be charged "micro payments" to use the online catch-up service said Lorraine Heggessey, chief executive of TV production company Talkback Thames.
Ms Heggessey was speaking at a BBC event on Tuesday.
Tony Cohen, chief executive of Talkback's parent company Fremantle Media, has also spoken out in support of a revenue model for all catch up TV.
Fremantle is currently conducting a feasibility study of the concept.
Most broadcasters now offer an online catch-up service, and with advertising revenue falling in the commercial TV sector, there is increasing industry support for the idea of charging for it.
Research carried out by Fremantle suggests that people would be willing to pay up to £2 for certain shows.
However, the BBC says it has no plans to introduce such a fee.
"The cost of the BBC iPlayer is covered by the licence fee, so UK users have already paid for this service," said a spokesperson.
The BBC spent £6m developing its iPlayer service, which launched on Christmas day in 2007. During peak times it pumps out 12GB of data per second to users - the equivalent of around 2400 MP3s.
Media industry expert Steve Hewlett, former director of programmes at Carlton Television, says that in theory the idea of paying to watch TV programmes online makes sense.
"The BBC never thought it was appropriate to give away DVDs, so why should catch-up be free?" he said.
"Traditionally, licence fee payers have paid for access on a TV set - and only for the first transmission."
Mr Hewlett believes that a payment model similar to that operated by iTunes and Amazon would be an appropriate technical solution.
"The technology now exists that can make payment straightforward. Once you have your account you tell it to buy, it's easy - in essence it's quite attractive. At iTunes prices, I would pay."
However for as long as the BBC iPlayer remains free, it would be difficult for other broadcasters to implement charges, he warned.
"It's one of the ways in which the BBC can create unintended market impact," he said.


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Facebook’s purchase of Giphy will affect competition from animated images, UK regulators said Thursday, which means the social network may eventually be forced to end the deal if preliminary results are confirmed.
The acquisition will affect the competition between social media platforms because the other big GIF provider is Google’s Tenor. said the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The Giphy Short Loop Video or GIF Library is a popular tool for netizens to post or post to social media.
The deal will also reduce competition from digital advertising by removing a potential competitor from the market, said the agency, which began analyzing the acquisition last year, shortly after Facebook announced its plan to buy Giphy for an alleged $ 400 million.
Facebook disagreed with the preliminary findings because it didn’t believe there was any evidence.
“As we have shown, this merger will benefit individuals and companies in the UK and around the world who use Giphy and our services,” Facebook said. “We will continue to work with the CMA to dispel the misconception that the agreement harms competition.”


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Weekly Capsule of India Business News Headlines (23-28 )April
Weekly Business News
- Amazon is setting up five more warehouses in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Vijayawada. With the addition of these fulfillment centres, Amazon will have a total of 67 fulfillment centres in 13 states. FCs are warehouses where sellers can stock their inventory.
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has permitted Abbott Healthcare to discontinue selling its premium metallic stent, Xience Alpine Premium, from the Indian market. Due to regulatory intervention on stent prices, Abbott had applied for withdrawal of its high-end stents last year.
- National Highways Authority of India has signed its first toll-operate-transfer agreement with Sydney-based Macquarie Group. Under the agreement, Macquarie will make an upfront payment of Rs9,681.5 crore within 120 days of the signing the contract. This is one of the largest foreign investments in India’s public infrastructure.
- Income tax appellate tribunal has rejected government’s move to reclassify discounts offered by Flipkart as capital expenditure. Flipkart argued that the company needs to incur such expenses to sell its products and retain its market share while the tax department treated such expenses as capital expenditure as this creates brand value and marketing intangibles for Flipkart.
- Swedish investor AB Kinnevik, which holds 18% stake in Quikr, has cut its estimate of Quikr’s valuation by 12% to $885 million as of 31 December 2017.
- Essar Group has completed sale of its Equinox Business Park in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management for Rs.2,400 crore. Equinox Business Park is spread across 10 acres, has 4 towers with leasable office space of around 1.25 million sq. ft.
- Three US-based private equity funds, Advent International, The Carlyle Group and General Atlantic, have been shortlisted to acquire a controlling stake in Pepe Jeans’s Indian arm, which is looking at a valuation of Rs2,000 crore.
- Edelweiss and Kotak may buy Avantha’sdebt of Rs.4,300 crore from a group of lenders led by Axis Bank. The consortium is yet to take final call with both firms seeking a 50% haircut.
- Paytm is in advanced talks to acquire ticket booking platform TicketNew from Alibaba Pictures. The deal, expected to be around $30-40 million, may be completed by next month.
- Jet Airways has signed a code-share agreement with Aeromexico for travel commencing 1 May, 2018 between Delhi and Mumbai and Mexico via Heathrow airport and the companies will use each other’s codes on the flights at these sectors.
- In his first formal address to investors as CEO of Infosys, Salil Parekh pledged to stabilize and turn around the company in three years as also presented a three-year roadmap to restore firm’s position as the leader of India’s $167 billion IT industry.
- FII holding in Infosys dropped to 35.24% at the end of March 2018 as against 38.31% at the end of March 2017. At least three long-standing foreign investors of the company’s have pared their holdings.
- BlackRock Inc., world’s largest asset manager with assets of $6.3 trillion, is ready to enter distressed debt space in India and is on the lookout for a MD who will focus on distressed and NPA opportunities in India. As per RBI data, as on 31 December 2017, India had close to Rs8.41 trillion in NPAs
- Private equity fund True North is in advanced talks to buy 26% stake in Fedbank Financial Services for Rs400 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed within the next few weeks.
- Tata power’s plan to monetize its non-core assets has been put into motion by signing a deal which sells the Tata Advanced Systems Ltd.’s strategic engineering division engaged in the defence industry for Rs. 2,230 crores. Read more on Weekly Business News
Policies & Practices:
- The government is likely to release a draft of new National Telecom Policy on 1st May to seek public comments.
- Another meeting of GST council is set to be held on May 4 to simplify tax return forms as also discuss the amendments required in indirect tax regime rules.
- The Government has decided to set up a task force to frame National Policy on E-Commerce, which will come out with a set of recommendations in 5-6 months.
- Trump administration is planning to propose to end allowing spouses of H1-B visa holders to work legally in the US. The move could have a devastating impact on thousands of Indians. As of June 2017, US has issued employment authorisation documents to more than 71,287 spouses of H-1B visa holders, over 90% of whom are Indians.
- As reported by Paytm, 100 million Paytm users have completed its KYC. It also claims to have 280 million mobile wallet users and five million merchant partners on its platform.
- Around 15 profitable airports, including Chennai and Ahmedabad, could be put under private management in the first privatisation initiative by NDA Government. The move is part of government’s move to enhance India’s aviation infrastructure.
- Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is likely to buy a minority stock in Flipkart after the Walmart deal, which is expected to be announced soon.
- Future Group is set to launch an app like Amazon Prime and will use Easyday stores for delivery of groceries. They will be competing with players like Amazon, Grofers and BigBasket
- Airtel and Indus Towers have agreed to merge their businesses to create world’s largest tower company outside China. The combined entity will own more than 163,000 towers, second only to China Tower
- The Board of Music Broadcast has approved acquisition of Friends 91.9 FM radio of Ananda Offset in Kolkata by way of slump sale. The transaction will allow MBL to tap Kolkata market, one of the top five markets in India, as also to explore the large potential it offers from national advertisers.
- KedaaraCapitla and Partners group is in advance talks to buy Vishal Mega Marg from TPG and Shriram Group, its current owners, for around Rs.5000-5300 Crores. The current owners had acquired Vishal retail for Rs.70 Crore.
- Maruti Suzuki has added Rs. 5,000 crore to its current fiscal for capex. It has also earmarked Rs. 1,000 crore for new dealerships and buying land parcels. It invested Rs.790 crores last year for the same.
- Shopclues will open its first offline store in Lucknow next month to showcase private labels and products across various categories like fashion, accessories, smartphones etc.
- BigBasket is in early talks to invest in two smaller grocery delivery start-ups DailyNinja and Milkbasket as this will speed up its capabilities in the micro-delivery space.
- Google is launching a three month India focussed mentoring programme for startups which are building solutions using technologies like AI and machine learning. It will select 8 to 10 startups for the program.
- Urbanpod, the Capsule hotel firm is looking to expand its model in 8 more cities and is looking to raise Rs.20 crore. Urbanpod is looking to introduce capsule hotels at railway stations and pilgrimage centres across the country. The term ‘Pod’ is derived from their pod-sized rooms fitted with a bed.
- Healthcare startup Doxper has raised Rs.7.3 Crore in funding from its existing investors. Doxper allows clinicians to instantly digitise their case sheets.
- Capital Float, a digital lending firm, has raised $22 million in equity funding from Amazon Inc., taking total equity funding in the firm to $107 million. The firm had earlier raised debt financing of $130 million from various banks.
- Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder, has invested in ‘Visit’ a Delhi based healthcare startup. Visit uses an AI-based bot in its app to help users choose from a pool of medical specialists and general physicians for consultation.
- Think tank set up by the government to deliberate on e-commerce sector and cross-border digital trade related issues will hold its first meeting on April 24. It is led by Suresh Prabhu, commerce and industry minister and comprises officials from finance, corporate affairs, home affairs, electronics and information technology ministries. Representatives of various Industry chambers would also be participating.
- Fortis case: Fortis Healthcare has invited Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Indrajit Banerjee and Ravi Rajagopal to join its board as independent directors before a board meeting on Friday. These were recommended shareholders of the National Westminster Bank Plc, East Bridge Capital Master Fund and East Bridge Capital Master Fund which together hold 12.04% in Fortis Healthcare.
- Fortis case: Just one day before the bidding deadline, Manipal Hospital Enterprises-TPG Capital combine submitted a revised bid offering to infuse Rs750 crore upfront matching the offer of Munjals and Burmans.– Fortis sale may be delayed further as Renuka Ramnath has exited advisory panel citing pre-occupation. The advisory panel was set to submit recommendations on bids today.
- Fortis update: Munjals and Burmans have extend their bid validity for Fortis Healthcare till May 4. They had earlier revised their offer of Rs 12.5 billion to Rs 15 billion. The move comes in the backdrop of the decision of Board of Fortis Healthcare to select new investors.
- Fortis case: Bidding war for control of Fortis Healthcare has reached its final stage with IHH Healthcare Bhd making a binding offer of Rs.650 crore for immediate infusion. It has also offered to invest an additional Rs3,350 crore subject to due diligence.
- Government has issued fresh notices to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica seeking detailed responses on the misuse of Indians’ data as it found the responses sent by Cambridge Analytica unsatisfactory, cryptic and evasive.CambridgeAnalytica had said that it collected data in India only from first party research instruments or opinion surveys.
- Videocon loan case: I-T dept has issued fresh notice to Deepak Kochhar in his individual capacity seeking details of his personal finances & transactions as also share valuation report for investment in NuPower Renewables along with company’s financial reports.
- PNB fraud: Armed with fugitive offenders law, ED is set to move Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Delhi or Mumbai for permission to accord “fugitive” status to both Nirav Modi and MehulChoksi. While ED has already provisionally attached assets worth Rs7,600 crore belonging to Nirav Modi and Choksi, after the Court permission, these assets will be seized by the government.
- Binani Cement update: Kolkata bench of NCLT has finished hearing in the dispute over insolvency resolution at Binani Cement with Dalmia Bharat insisting that there was no question of allowing the revised bid of Ultratech Cement. NCLT has reserved the order as of now. Dalmia Bharat has offered Rs.6,932.46 crore whereas Ultratech has raised its bid to Rs7,960 crore.
- Monnet Ispatupdate : Kotak Bank, which has to recover around Rs.73 Crores, has approved debt resolution plan for Monnet Ispat submitted jointly by JSW Steel Ltd and AION Capital Partners.
- Essar Steel sale: Fresh hurdle for Numetal, ArcelorMittal in NCLT order who has given them one month to fix their ineligibility. As per the order, both of them must clear debts in defaulting companies where they hold stakes before bidding for the Essar Steel.
- Bhushan Steel update : NCLT has asked Bhushan Steel creditors to consider the bid of Liberty House and said that the bid cannot be rejected solely on the ground of being submitted after the deadline.
- Bhushan steel update: Liberty house has offered Rs.26,000 for acquiring Bhushan Steel. The offer has put Liberty house in the same stature as Tata Steel and JSW. Tata Steel had offered Rs.17,000 crore and Rs.7,200 crore upfront and for the operations of Bhushan respectively.
- Anmol Ambani, the eldest son of Anil Ambani, has been inducted on boards of Reliance Nippon Life and Reliance Home Finance. He is currently ED of Reliance Capital
- Tata Sons has named S. Jaishankar, ex-foreign secretary, as its Global corporate affairs head. He will report to N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and will be responsible for group’s global corporate affairs and international strategy development.
- The President of Indigo, Mr. Aditya Ghosh is resigning from his post effective 31st of July. Rahul Bhatia, airlines promoter, will take over as interim CEO.
Here we cover the essential Weekly Business News, hope it is helpful for you. Don’t forget to give your feedback
*News as published in Business Standard, Live Mint and Economic Times.
For more updates, do Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.


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Google is learned to be working on a new Groupon-style pre-paid offers service called ‘Google Offers‘. The service, which is said to be currently in its testing phase, will let customers get a daily email of best deals in their neighborhood. Customers may then choose to sign up for the deal within a prescribed time. If enough customers sign up within this time period, the deal will be activated.
According to sources, Google is working with businesses to release 80% of a business’ revenue share three days after the deal runs. The remaining 20% shall be held for up to 60 days to cover for refunds.
The Groupon model has generated tremendous interest in recent times and although there are concerns that such a business is not viable in the long term, we have been seeing a lot of acitivity in this space in terms of new entrants and consolidation. Google is known to have recently made an offer to acquire Groupon that was rejected by the management. Now, with Google’s entry, the segment is sure to see some interesting activity.


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LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — R&D/Leverage®, recently recognized as the first U.S. mold maker and Structural Brand Development Company to be certified "Made in the USA®," has now launched Support Plastics USA, www.supportplasticsusa.com, a new portal site designed to promote domestic plastics suppliers and attract talented newcomers to the industry.
According to Robert Schiavone, Global Marketing Director for R&D/Leverage, the new web site gives mold makers, design houses and processors a unified voice, as well as a powerful "home" for an industry's worth of information and resources, as well as success stories. In a matter of weeks, 13 entities have joined Support Plastics USA, he said.
"We are tearing down the walls separating customers and competitors and creating a joint effort to share the news of what we do in the U.S., when it comes to plastics design, engineering, and manufacturing," Schiavone said. "Simultaneously, we are working to foster pride in American workmanship and manufacturing prowess, in order to attract young adults eager to start their careers."
According to Schiavone, the initiative is a win-win, as the U.S. wins back plastic assignments from overseas. "Many large corporations believe they can profitably make products here," he said. "The timing is right – Pride In American Manufacturing is coming back. And as American Mold Makers and Engineers and Design Houses, we need to capitalize on this opportunity."
Although many grass-roots, Made In America online support groups have sprouted up, he said, "none of them supported our industry. So R&D/Leverage created such a group, and will continue to use our company's leadership role to make connections between the industry players looking to support the Plastics industry and American pride."
(Editor's Note: Robert Schiavone recently addressed these related issues at Amerimold 2013 on June 13, Rosemount, Illinois http://www.amerimoldexpo.com/zones/track-info?alias=knowledge-centers.)
R&D/Leverage USA, headquartered in Missouri, services the food and beverage, home and personal care, and healthcare industries. It is the only company to offer both structural brand development and mold manufacturing capabilities. Structural brand development capabilities are upfront research such as retail audits that include trend and color study, ethnographic research, consumer focus groups, concept development, validation, and implementation. Mold manufacturing capabilities include full mold manufacturing for PET tooling, IBM tooling, injection molds, as well as unit tool development, testing, validation, and training.
R&D/Leverage Europe is recognized as one of the world's leading suppliers of single stage tooling. Services include product evaluation, tooling design, tooling manufacture, and technical service assistance. The company also has on-site injection stretch blow molding machines (ISBM), from which the company offers pilot tooling, material trials, color trials, and production tool qualification. Combined, R&D/Leverage Global serves customers in 32 countries, and is the first and only company to provide this full range of packaging solutions. For more information, visit www.rdleverage.com or email Email.


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An important date is approaching, on July 17, those characters that animate our keyboards and help us express ourselves with greater grace and precision are revered. Indeed, we are talking about the emoji.
And, to kick off World Emoji Day, the emoji experts at Emojipedia have already presented the first versions of the ones that could be new emoji coming to your mobile device thanks to the next update, version 15.0, of the Unicode standard.
31 possible new emojis
The preliminary list of emojis includes hearts in light shades of gray, pink and blue, a donkey, a goose, a hyacinth, pushing hands or a trembling face, among others. In total, taking into account the designs of the hands with different skin tones, the proposal is made up of 31 new emoji.
It highlights the fact that this is the smallest listing submitted to date, considering that in previous updates more than a hundred emojis had been applied. This is due to the intention of controlling the number of new emojis, since most of them are not used frequently and creating and adapting them to devices takes a lot of work for companies.
we shall wait until september to find out which of these emojis will be incorporated into the final version of this update. But in the meantime, you have the opportunity to vote for your favorite emojis. Although, from Emojipedia they have already confirmed that this will not affect the final results, the winner will obtain the most anticipated emoji award at the World Emoji Awards 2022. In addition, after voting you will be able to formulate your own suggestion for upcoming emojis.
What emoji would you like to see on your keyboard soon? Which of those already presented do you think should be included in version 15.0 yes or yes? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Fangame Bloodborne Kart is being scrapped, but fans don’t have to worry. The meme-turned-game is still going to be brought across the finish line.
Bloodborne is widely regarded as one of the best games of its generation and arguably the best Soulsborne game thus far. The fact that Sony, FromSoftware, and PlayStation have all dropped it without any sort of follow-up has grated on fans for the better part of a decade at this point. There’s been no sequel, no remaster, no next-gen upgrade, and no PC port. This is made all the more perplexing by the fact that the game was actually a commercial success, out-selling numerous PlayStation first-party releases that received sequels or follow-ups.
This has left fans desperate for anything they can get on the game. While there have been reports of a Bloodborne movie being made by Sony Pictures, most of the content related has been fan-made like the recreation of Yharnam in Minecraft. Likely the biggest project has been Bloodborne Kart, a kart racer and vehicle combat game that included the most recognizable character from its namesake.
While fan enthusiasm for the game built over time, Sony finally remembered that Bloodborne existed just to quash any excitement fans might have had about it. The good news is that the game will fittingly shamble on in a state of undeath.
Is Bloodborne Kart coming out?
Bloodborne Kart has been canceled at the request of Sony due to its use of characters from the game. The good news is that the game will still come out, just with the Bloodborne characters and themes removed.
Developer Lilith Walther announced the news on social media and discussed the future of the game. Though the game rose to prominence in large part due to its association with the game, they suggested they are at ease with the change.
“So Sony contacted us. Long story short, we need to scrub the branding off what was previously known as Bloodborne Kart…We were honestly expecting something like this to happen and the idea of having full creative control is kind of exciting,” Walther said on YouTube.
When is Bloodborne Kart coming out?
The release date for the game formerly known as Bloodborne Kart has not been revealed. The title was originally scheduled to launch on January 31, 2024, but the late rug pull from Sony will see the game pushed back.
Walther did not indicate how long the delay will be or what the revised game may look like. She teased on Twitter the revised version of Micolash, Host of the Nightmare.
Fans may be able to expect to see the game lampooned in this way once it comes out.


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Wall Street got a confidence boost from investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which reported sharply lower profits that dazzled investors because they could have been a lot worse. But with the credit crisis raging, there could be more trouble to come.
"It is hard to feel like we are poised for a change," said Erin Callan, Lehman's chief financial officer, who spent more than hour on a conference call with analysts outlining what she called the "strength" of the New York company's liquidity, or cash on hand to fund day-to-day operations. "This is the operating environment for the rest of the calendar year."
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Subscribe To BlazBlue Gets Punchy As Free PlayStation Plus Game Updates
I've already subscribed
It's the last week of the month, which means it's also the last week of PlayStation Plus updates for May. Sony's heading into the summer in fighting form, however, offering up BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend for the Vita as a new addition to the Instant Game Collection roster.
We announced that BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend would be hitting the Vita as part of a PlayStation Plus update earlier this month, making it the third portable fighting game to be added to the service in the past several months. Being a fan of the genre, I'm certainly not complaining.
For those unfamiliar with the series, BlazBlue comes from Arc System Works, the team responsible for last gen's Guilty Gear fighting series. Like its predecessor, BlazBlue features a cast of colorful characters with varied fighting styles, duking it out in a fantasy world that has been painstakingly drawn into life by hand. It's a fast fighter and beautiful to boot, and the Vita version of the game comes with a metric ton of content including story modes for each character, arcade, training, tutorials and solid online play.
If you're looking to get punchy this summer, BlazBlue for the Vita is the way to go.
Along with ASW's portable fighter, this week's Plus update will also see a number of discounts popping up, as well as some timed trials. Both Fuse and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will be available for limited play as timed trials. PlayStation 3 game Hamilton's Great Adventure will receive a 50 percent discount, down to just $250, while Draw Slasher will be marked down by 30 percent, down to $4.19. The PS3 version of Germinator will be marked down by 25 percent while the PS3/Vita bundle of the game will see a discount of 40 percent, both totaling just $5.99.
For more info on this week's Plus offerings, visit the PlayStation Blog. Otherwise, look for details on June's Plus offerings in the coming week.


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Windmere Corp. said on Wednesday it lost $3.7 million last year, almost all of it in the fourth quarter.
The consumer products company, with headquarters in Miami Lakes, cited a weak retail environment, a lack of new products, and higher inventory reserves as reasons for the loss.
Sales fell 13.3 percent to $154.9 million from $178.7 million a year ago. Windmere had a profit in 1989 of $7.7 million or 49 cents a share.
Windmere makes hair curlers, dryers, kitchen aids and other personal appliances, primarily in the Far East. With lower sales, Windmere reduced employment in China and cut some discretionary television advertising, a spokesman said.
In the fourth quarter, sales fell 19.8 percent to $39.7 million, which contributed to a $3.5 million loss. Windmere lost $1.4 million in the same quarter of 1989.
Despite the 1990 loss, Windmere said its cash flow from operations was positive. The loss included an increase in income tax payments of $1.3 million over 1989.
Windmere employs about 250 people in South Florida. The company's products include the Clothes Shaver, a garment care device, the Crimper, a hair curler, and Plak Trac, an electric toothbrush designed to remove dental plaque.


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Citibank bill pay app doubles your paying pleasure
Nothing hurts quite like looking at your online bank statement the day the mortgage is transferred out. Nothing, except seeing that money transferred out twice. Ouch. Some Citibank customers using the company’s new payment app were seeing double payments, because of an error in processing. The New York Times reports:
The problem, which began in July but went undetected by the bank until December, prompted bogus payments big and small. Some customers quickly spotted the redundant transaction and complained to Citi, while other consumers were caught off guard when the bank recently notified them of the discrepancy. The snag even led some unsuspecting customers to overdraw their accounts, though a bank spokesman said that was rare.
Also rare: kids on school buses, popcorn at the movies, and water in swimming pools.
Citi says the problem was limited to its iPad app – if you tried to make a payment using your iPad, and the transaction failed, Citi’s system was set to automatically re-try the transaction. The problem is that while the bank re-tried, so did the customer. And there are some customers are reporting being double-billed even though they didn’t use an iPad.
Citi says it has fixed the problem and will “replenish any fees that customers incurred because of the extra charge, refund lost interest and dole out a modest amount of points for its rewards program, called ThankYou, as an apologetic gesture.”
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The Digital Divide will be Reduced by More Smartphones
There were 503.14 million smartphone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, and that number is expected to reach 798m by 2027, based on the steady growth seen in earlier years. Despite this valuable potential to establish a notable presence in the global industry, the production and assembly of mobile devices remain concentrated in countries such as China, Hong Kong, the US, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. However, over the years, there have been efforts by some African nations like SA, the DRC, and Egypt to develop their local mobile phone manufacturing capabilities and contribute to the global supply chain. The latest in this list is Kenya. The Kenyan government recently announced plans to roll out its first batch of locally manufactured smartphones in July.
Meanwhile in Egypt, startup CardoO has launched its first IoT-enabled smartwatch. CardoO facilitates access to the latest affordable consumer electronics and IoT devices for MENA consumers, offering these products through online sales, direct sales, and channel sales, in addition to retail sales. The startup raised a US$660,000 seed round of funding last October to help it achieve its goal of becoming the leading Arab brand for premium and price-effective smart devices, and it has now launched the CardoO Watch, a “stylish and versatile” wearable that “combines fashion and functionality”.
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The 60-year-old former Beatle and his second wife, who is 35, married just over a year ago in Ireland.
In a statement today the couple said: "We are delighted with this happy news." Their spokesman added that the baby is expected later this year.
Sir Paul, whose personal fortune is estimated at around £760million, already has three children: fashion designer Stella, photographer Mary and James, a musician.
Linda McCartney, Sir Paul's first wife, died in 1998 of breast cancer. Ms Mills was a model when she lost her leg in 1993 after being hit by a police motorcycle responding to a 999 call.
She has said about the ordeal: "The overcoming of adversity and, ultimately, denying it the right of passage, has been a constant and perpetual motive throughout my life."
Ms Mills was born in Tyne and Wear in 1968, and, according to her autobiography, she ran away at 15.
There has been speculation that Stella McCartney has resented the arrival of her
new stepmother in the family. However, both Miss McCartney, who is herself engaged, and Ms Mills have denied the rumours.
Ms Mills recent campaigning has concentrated on highlighting the risks of landmines, following in the footsteps of Princess Diana.
Earlier this week the expectant couple met Russian president Vladimir Putin as Sir Paul performed his first ever concert in Red Square, Moscow. Afterwards Sir Paul said: "This is a dream come true."Reuse content


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Sony will move its European headquarters from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands for the "Brexit"
The Japanese firm Sony is moving its main European headquarters from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands for the problems that can cause the «brexit» in its operations, financial daily Nikkei reported today.
According to the newspaper, the measure is justified in the event that Sony finds shipping problems and customs procedures with the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Nikkei says that the intention of the technological giant is to merge Sony Europe, currently with British headquarters, with a newly created subsidiary in Amsterdam, which will begin operations in April.
The corporation will continue to maintain a headquarters in the United Kingdom, but focused on the British market.
Nikkei recalls that the Japanese firm adopted a similar position last October Panasonic, which moved its European headquarters to Amsterdam.
In its fiscal year 2017, closed in March 2018, Sony reported that its sales in Europe represented 21.55% of the total, compared to 21.48% of the US market.
The country that accounts for most of its turnover is Japan, with 30.73% of the total.


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In the last decade, destructive mountain pine beetles have spread through North America, destroying millions of acres of forests and billions of trees. The spread of the beetles is fueled by global warming (they thrive in warm temperatures), and unless invasive wasps step up their game and eat more of the pests, the problem will only get worse.
The silver lining of the epidemic is the availability of wood from dead pine trees, and Marco Pimentel has a way to both reap the benefits of the problem and work to end it: gorgeous iPhone and iPad cases made from beetle infested wood.Based on the Quirky page, where Pimentel is raising funds to bring the design to market, the project is in its early phases. But the photo of the wooden iPhone case is a promising start. Pimentel hopes to sell the cases for $40-50 for the iPhone and $60-90 for the iPad.
His hope is to provide customers with a beautiful sustainable product that will raise awareness of the pine beetle infestation, and at the same time make sure the deceased wood doesn't go to waste. As he puts it, "win-win-win!"


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Marissa Mayer, who has run Google Search for years, has now been put in charge of location and local services, according to an email sent by Google to Bloomberg.
So that’s why Mayer has been checking in on Foursquare lately.
Mayer, who we pointed out a few weeks ago has more or less been face of Google lately (especially while Vic Gundotra is locked down on Google Me we’re guessing) has also reportedly been promoted to Google’s operating committee, which is the highest echelon of Google’s management (we’re kind of surprised she wasn’t already there actually).
So, what will Mayer do with location and local now that its under her control. First of all, as we’ve said a number of times, beyond search and advertising, we think location is one of the things that Google does best, so Mayer will be starting out from a position of considerable strength. We’re not talking about the always there but not really Latitude either – when we say location, we mean Google Maps.
Google Maps is far and away the most used online mapping service in the world, and for good reason. Add to that Google Places, all of the location features of Android (which are of course centered around Google Maps) and Mayer will have an arsenal to take on not only Yelp and Foursquare and the such, but also much bigger threats in Apple, Microsoft (Bing Maps is more impressive every day) and of course Facebook Places.
Right, Facebook. It would seem that Google is not taking any chances, taking two of its most visable execs and placing them on projects that will most likely compete directly with Facebook for some time. Then there is Twitter, which Mayer (and Google in general it would seem) have great admiration for – could Mayer do something with Twitter’s geo team to really bring a synergy to both companies on location?
Finally, yes, there is Foursquare, which as we said above, Mayer has been very publicly engaging with over the last few weeks. Foursquare’s CEO Dennis Crowley has already had one go around as a Google employee after Google acquired his Dodgeball, but could Mayer – and a subsequent re-focusing of Google around location as well as a common enemy in Facebook – bring the possibility that Crowley (and Foursquare’s investors) might entertain a Google acquisition? If not, could Google perhaps snap up a Foursquare competitor for a lot less than Foursquare would probably cost?
As close followers of Google and location services, this is really an exciting announcement and one that could have far reaching implications across a number of web and mobile services.
P.S. Oh, and yeah John Battelle – this is big.


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Thanks to an error that allowed Xbox players to download the Fallout 76 Steel Dawn update early, Bethesda has made the decision to simply release it across all platforms.
Originally slated to release on December 1st, the Steel Dawn update brings the Brotherhood of Steel to Fallout 76. However, due to an error that allowed Xbox players to download the update early, Bethesda explained the choice via their blog to simply release the full update to everyone instead of rolling everything back.
Earlier today, there was an error that caused players in our Xbox community to download the Steel Dawn Update ahead of schedule, but prevented them from actually playing. We immediately investigated ways to get our Xbox players back in-game as soon as possible, but, through our discussions, the entire BGS team felt confident that Steel Dawn is ready to go.
As a result, instead of rolling back the update and making everyone wait another week, we’ve decided to release the Steel Dawn Update on all platforms today, November 24.
Fallout 76 has been performing maintenance across all platforms today since 4pm ET to push the update live, and is estimated to last about 6 hours. If you're looking to get caught up on the history of the Brotherhood, the team released a video showcasing their past and how it leads up to your time in Appalachia.


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SAN FRANCISCO--For perhaps the first time in its history, Microsoft made the case on Monday that businesses shouldn't run its software. Instead, Microsoft argued that corporations should let it run the software for them.
During the past several years, Microsoft has been testing out the idea that it can host and run business software cheaper and more effectively than individual enterprises can do on their own. The effort started in 2005 with a single customer--battery maker Energizer--which had Microsoft essentially handle all of its PC desktops.
Over time, Microsoft narrowed the service to an option in which it hosts … Read more


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Tesla is rolling out its destination charger network around the country, recently signing off on its 300th fast residential-grade charging station near Melbourne. At the same time, though, a little bit of corporate intrigue means that its secondary high-speed Supercharging station in Sydney’s CBD has been closed, almost halving the number of high-speed chargers available to Tesla owners.
Business Insider reports that Tesla’s four-bay Supercharger station in the basement car park of The Star casino in Pyrmont has been closed for around three weeks, with the casino complex unhappy with the partnership. Gizmodo understands that The Star essentially wasn’t making any money off the Tesla owners, who would either wait in their cars or would only buy a coffee or lunch rather than visiting The Star’s casino facilities.
The length of time that Tesla Superchargers were leaving their cars at The Star was apparently also a point of frustration. Recently one-hour parking signs were installed on the four-bay charger; a Tesla Supercharger can deliver a full charge from a completely empty battery in around 90 minutes. On previous occasions where we’ve charged at The Star, we’ve been informed by employees that chargers were to be occupied for no more than an hour at a time.
With the four-bay charger in Pyrmont gone, Sydney Tesla owners that want to use a Supercharger have to travel to Tesla’s St Leonards location, where five chargers are installed at the site that the company opened its first Australian showroom. flagship Martin Place store does not have public access chargers.
Tesla’s Supercharger network outside of Sydney stretches as far north as Knockrow near Byron Bay in northern NSW, and as far south as Ballarat in Victoria, enabling long-distance travel between Adelaide and Brisbane through a Supercharger corridor that runs past Albury, Goulburn, Sydney and Port Macquarie. Outside of the fast chargers, destination chargers are dotted around the east, west and south coasts of Australia and within the interiors of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Tesla also promotes free unlimited home charging for a car’s first year of ownership through its partnership with AGL, which has an Electric Car Plan that includes a carbon offset for the electricity and a fixed $1 daily unlimited charging fee after the first year.
Both Tesla and The Star declined to comment when asked by Business Insider. [Business Insider]


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The CAI has revised downwards the crop estimate for Gujarat by 2 lakh bales, Maharashtra by 1 lakh bales, Karnataka by 1 lakh bales and Orissa by 75,000 compared to its previous estimate due to unfavourable weather conditions.
The projected total cotton supply during October 2018 is 50.13 lakh bales which consists of the arrival of 26.13 lakh bales during the month of October 2018, imports during October 2018 which the Committee has estimated at 1.00 lakh bales and the opening stock at the beginning of the season as on October 1, 2018 which the Committee has estimated at 23.00 lakh bales.
Further, the Committee has estimated cotton consumption during October 2018 at 27 lakh bales while the export shipment of cotton during October 2018 has been estimated at 2.50 lakh bales.
The stock at the end of October 2018 is estimated at 20.63 lakh bales including 16.53 lakh bales with textile mills while the remaining 4.10 lakh bales are estimated to be held by CCI and others (MNCs, traders, ginners, etc).
The projected yearly Balance Sheet for the 2018-19 season drawn by the CAI estimates total cotton supply till end of the season i.e. up to September 30, 2019 at 390.25 lakh bales of 170 kg each which includes opening stock of 23 lakh bales at the beginning of the season and imports of 24 lakh bales which are estimated to be higher by 9 lakh bales compared to the imports figure of 15 lakh bales estimated for the 2017-18 crop year.
The CAI has estimated domestic consumption for the season at 324 lakh bales while the exports are estimated to be 51 lakh bales which are lower by 18 lakh bales compared to 69 lakh bales during the last year. The carry-over stock at the end of the 2018-19 season is estimated at 15.25 lakh bales.
During October, record breaking cotton arrivals were witnessed as there were no rains during the last 60 to 70 days in the entire cotton belt of India. Due to the dry and hot weather, cotton bolls opened in early stages this year. Moreover, in the northern region, cotton was sold at ₹4,500 per quintal same time last year whereas this year farmers are getting substantially higher price of about ₹5,300 per quintal. Due to this, arrivals are considerably higher in October this year. (RKS)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India
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Li Ning's closure of its only branch in Hong Kong is part of a larger closure of 1,200 stores across China, representing 15% of its total outlets. (Photo/Xinhua)
The recent closure of the Hong Kong outlet of Li Ning, a Chinese sporting goods company founded by the country's gymnast of the same name, highlights the difficult challenges facing the company as Li returns to the helm of the company, Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald reports.
On Sept. 12, the company confirmed that its only store in Hong Kong, opened in October 2009, had been closed as part of its plan to refocus on the Chinese mainland market.
When the Hong Kong store opened under the tenure of former CEO Zhang Zhiyong, the company was aiming to become one of the top five global sporting brands by 2018.
However, the company did not see significant growth in revenue from overseas operations, which only contributed 1.4% to its overall income in 2010 and 1.9% in 2011, the newspaper said.
The closure of Li Ning's Hong Kong store is another blow to the company's overseas operations, following the bankruptcy filing of its Spanish distributor LN Plus Iberoamerica in early July, because of the deteriorating local market.
While the closure means Li Ning is scaling down its overseas operations, a sports marketing expert told the newspaper that the move would protect the company from being hurt further by the several issues it is facing in China.
The company has closed down 1,200, or 15%, of its shops, which had performed poorly during the first six months of this year, revealed Jin Zhenjun, the executive vice-chairman of Li Ning, when the company released its semi-annual report on Aug. 22.
Between January and June, Li Ning's revenue declined 9.5% to 3.88 billion Chinese yuan (US$612.94 million) from last year, while its net profits dropped 84.9% to 44 million yuan (US$6.95 million).
Li Ning's performance was in stark contrast to its rival Anta Sports Products, which reported 3.93 billion yuan (US$621 million) in revenue and 770 million yuan (US$121.64 million) in net profits during the same period.
Besides scaling down its overseas operations, the newspaper said the company has formulated a three-step strategy to protect itself from further decline. The first stage of the plan aims at reducing inventories and improving the retail channel's profitability in the face of higher inventory turnaround times, the newspaper said.
According to the company's financial statements, the turnaround time for the company's goods had risen from 2010's 52 days to 2011's 73 days and 95 days during the first six months of this year, almost double that of Anta, which has the shortest turnaround time in the industry.
The expert said targeting its inventory is the right move for Li Ning, as a high inventory affects all operations starting from design to purchasing and sales.
Li Ning will also improve its supply chain, the planning process and marketing of its products during the second phase of its plan, with the third phase focusing on its profit structure, retail efficiency and return on investment, the newspaper said.
Although the company expects to see the results of its efforts later this year at the earliest, Bank of America Merrill Lynch does not expect to see improved profits until the second half of 2013 because of the uncertainties in the company's reform plan.
Sun Chunlan is the party secretary of Tianjin and a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee and Politburo Birthplace: Raoyang County, Hebei Province Born: 1950 Country of ...


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Paypal Acquiring Crypto Security Firm Curv to Expand Digital Asset Initiatives
Payments giant Paypal has announced that it is acquiring Tel Aviv-based crypto security infrastructure provider Curv. According to Paypal, this acquisition will help the company “expand its initiatives to support cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” The deal is reportedly worth less than $200 million. Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced Monday “that it has agreed to […]
Installments monster Paypal has reported that it is getting Tel Aviv-based crypto security foundation supplier Curv. As indicated by Paypal, this securing will help the organization "grow its drives to help cryptographic forms of money and computerized resources." The arrangement is apparently worth under $200 million. Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) declared Monday "that it has consented to obtain Curv to quicken and grow its drives to help cryptographic forms of money and advanced resources." Founded in 2018 by CEO Itay Malinger and CTO Dan Yadlin, Curv is a main supplier of cloud-based foundation for computerized resource security situated in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The crypto care organization said a year ago that it brought $30 million up in subsidizing from financial backers, including Commerzventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Digital Currency Group. Curv at present backings in excess of 200 coins and tokens, including all ERC20 tokens and sub tokens on various blockchains. Paypal hopes to finish the securing of Curv in the main portion of 2021. While the organization has not uncovered the monetary terms of the arrangement, CNBC revealed that the arrangement is worth under $200 million, refering to an individual acquainted with the matter. "The obtaining of Curv is important for our work to put resources into the ability and innovation to understand our vision for a more comprehensive monetary framework," said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Paypal's VP and head supervisor for blockchain, crypto, and computerized monetary standards.
The installments monster as of late made a committed specialty unit that centers around "blockchain, crypto and advanced monetary forms," it depicted, noticing that Curv will join this gathering. Paypal started offering its clients the capacity to purchase, sell, and hold cryptographic forms of money on its foundation in November a year ago, and will before long grow its crypto contributions to clients in the U.K. The organization likewise plans to empower its 28 million shippers to acknowledge cryptographic forms of money for installment of products and enterprises this year.
What's your opinion about Paypal obtaining Curv? Tell us in the remarks area underneath.


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The benefits and financial savings offered by skyteam.com/globalmeetings can now be used by groups as small as 50. As part of the service, at least one reward ticket will now be issued for every 50 tickets booked. The global air alliance first launched the online service earlier this year, offering event planners a host of benefits for using the system. The alliance says giving smaller groups access is a response to industry demand.
Smaller groups can now access a range of services including a global meeting support desk, which provides live one-to-one telephone support to event organisers. Travel agents can also register on the site, allowing event planners to use their preferred agency to handle all ticketing. The website will also track the number of delegates using the service to book flight tickets to alert organisers when they’ve reached the threshold for rewards.
Skyteam is comprised of 19 member airlines from across the world, including Delta, Korean Air, Air France and China Eastern. The group also reports that it is currently the number one air alliance in Greater China with hubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Mauro Oretti, Skyteam’s vice president sales and marketing, said: “We’re capitalising on the positive trend in the meetings industry by removing the complexity of event travel management to deliver a simplified solution. In addition, our leading position in Greater China – a fast-growing MICE market, combined with our extensive network of more than 1,020 destinations, means Skyteam can fly attendees to all the world’s meetings hotspots on many of the world’s leading airlines.”
For more information, visit: skyteam.com/globalmeetings


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Tech-hungry consumers have helped to propel JB Hi-Fi to record sales of $9.2 billion for 2022 as online electronics purchases surged despite bricks-and-mortar stores reopening.
The ASX-listed home appliances retailer released a trading update on Tuesday outlining that it expects to report a 2022 net profit after tax of $544.9 million next month, up 7.7 per cent on last year.
JB Hi-Fi was among the companies seeing downgrades from analysts on Tuesday.Credit: Will Willitts
JB Hi-Fi’s preliminary financial results show sales up 3.5 per cent to $9.2 billion and earnings before interest and tax up 6.9 per cent to $795 million.
The company’s online sales helped fuelled the result, up by close to 53 per cent to $1.6 billion. Online purchases now contribute 17.6 per cent of the company’s total sales. When the company reported its full-year financial results in 2019, that figures was just 5.5 per cent of sales.
JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart said the record earnings performance came down to the success of both of the retailer’s sales channels.
“The benefits of having a strong multichannel strategy were especially evident in the second half as COVID-19 restrictions eased and customers returned to shopping in-store, whilst continuing to shop with us online,” he said.
Sales at white goods brand The Good Guys also performed strongly, up 7.7 per cent for the June quarter and 2.7 per cent for the year overall.
Rising interest rates and inflation have led to speculation of a spending slowdown for non-discretionary goods, but JB Hi-Fi said on Tuesday that sales momentum had been strong throughout the year.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped fuel sales of consumer electronics hardware like game consoles and computers, which often have lower margins than other tech like computer software or games.
However, as Barrenjoey analysts point out in a recent note, supply shortages of many electronic products have helped with margins.
“JB Hi-Fi’s gross margins ought to have reduced but given less discounting as product was in short supply, gross margins have actually expanded significantly,” consumer analyst Tom Kierath said in a note last month.
The company’s shares traded at a high of $55.85 last March but have slid 16.2 per cent this year to sit at $40.88 at Monday’s close.
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The City of Vancouver’s bike share program has been delayed once again. We’ve been hearing about the plan since 2011. As of 2013, tourists and residents expected to benefit from a public bike share system. But the latest news is that Vancouver’s bike share dream is pushed back to 2015.
Why? This time, it’s because Bixi, the company set to run the program, has been experiencing financial woes. The Globe & Mail chalks this up to growing pains for the bike share company. Bike sharing has gone from nonexistent in 2012 to more that 25,000 bikes in more than 30 cities in North America. They’re struggling to keep up with demand as well as properly organize supply. Meanwhile, sponsorship for the program is far from sored. Read more on that here.
The bike share program is a part of the city’s Transportation 2040 plan and Greenest City 2020 action plan. It’s intended to add a convenient, and affordable way to cycle in Vancouver while reducing vehicle use and encouraging cycling.
When it does become reality, bikes (and sanitized helmets!) will be located at automated docking stations throughout the city.
More than 500 cities around the world, such as Montreal, New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC, have started public bike shares.
Last modified: April 28, 2014


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Friday, January 14, 2011
The soaring Onion prices have severely effected on monthly budget of Indian consumers. Onions and Potatoes are mainstays in Indian diet, the cost of Onions increased by more than 60% in the past year. Not only onions, the prices of Milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables are also gone up, Indian food staples prices have raised by 18% in December 2010.This is the highest level in recent years, it reflects that the Indian poor class people are spending 50% of their household income on food only. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization stated that global prices have exceeded the levels of during the 2007-08 crises. Sugar, Corn, Soya bean and edible oils prices have risen by 50% since 2009. This adversity is caused by crop failures, broken distribution system and so many reasons.
The demand for the food has been increasing by world’s growing population. Primarily the extreme weather conditions and climate changes have caused to crops failures. Some other factors also pushing the food prices high i.e. growing demand from developing countries, increasing the usage of food crops (sugarcane, Corn) for ethanol fuel, raise in fuel prices and some times the US dollar value fluctuations also impact on food grain prices since the most of the commodities are denominated in dollar currency only. The agriculture commodities future trading also drives the food prices up, the non traditional investors are pumping their money to making profits which leads to further food inflation. Increased fuel prices lead to higher cost in food transportation and high input cost in agriculture like fertilizers, pesticides. Agriculture lands are being lost due to severe degradation, urbanization and industrialization that effects less crop production and price hikes.
If we focus on world food grains, Russian wheat crop was devastated by drought and wild fire, Pakistan crops were failed due to heavy floods and India lost its paddy and other food crops by excessive rains. The price of wheat has reached highest in United Kingdom and Europe, drought in Argentina and Brazil caused less yields in corn and soya bean. Presently in Australia, the disastrous floods are affecting badly on wheat, Sugar and vegetable harvests. Food riots were witnessed in Mozambique, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Haiti and Egypt due to price hikes of basic food commodities. When the world is facing such a stressful food crisis and I wonder about our Indian food grains distribution system, more than 320 millions of Indians are going bed hungry everyday and ironically the food grains are rotting away in storages. Some parts of the world are wasting the food and some parts are starving, some people in developed countries are clinically obese and the people in under development countries are malnourished.
The global food turmoil may put pressure on Indian food market. Indian government has taken immediate steps to manage the onion crisis, such as banning the export, importing onions from abroad and the government announced Rs.10.00 subsidy to traders on each kg of onions. Temporarily, this might be good but the government has to take stable measures to control the food inflation. Most of the Indian food chain system is under control of small traders and middlemen, the government should take necessary steps to avoid the traders’ speculation for effective distribution with fair price. Food security is the fundamental welfare of the state, government has to provide the basic food at reasonable price. The proposed food security bill is still pending, I hope it will get approved soon and the poor will get the food grains cheap and easily.


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Even though the most recent Trojan for Mac OS turned out to be a "phantom menace" that doesn't mean that Apple users are immune to security woes.
At the SysCan conference in Taiwan next week, Miller plans to present a method that exploits a flaw in Apple's restrictions on code signing on iOS devices, the security measure that allows only Apple-approved commands to run in an iPhone or iPad's memory. Using his method — and Miller has already planted a sleeper app in Apple's App Store to demonstrate the trick — an app can phone home to a remote computer that downloads new unapproved commands onto the device and executes them at will, including stealing the user's photos, reading contacts, making the phone vibrate or play sounds, or otherwise repurposing normal iOS app functions for malicious ends.
"Now you could have a program in the App Store like Angry Birds that can run new code on your phone that Apple never had a chance to check," says Miller. "With this bug, you can't be assured of anything you download from the App Store behaving nicely."
In the immortal words of Popsicle Pete, "none of you are safe."


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Don’t let the Roman numeral two fool you into thinking that this is a sequel. Dragon Nest II: Legend is actually a prequel to the currently operating MMO, taking place 500 years in the past.
Want another surprise? Dragon Nest II will be a mobile title, adding another future contender in the growing field of tablet and smartphone MMOs. The game is being developed in Korea by ActozSoft and EyeDentity Games and is looking to release globally at an undetermined date.
You can watch the announcement trailer for Dragon Nest II after the jump!


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LG and Kineto announce UMA-enabled cellular/WI-FI mobile phone
LG Electronics and Kineto Wireless, Inc. today announced the availability of the CL400 mobile phone. The CL400 one of the industry's first UMA-enabled cellular/Wi-Fi phones designed for Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions.
The CL400 is a camera/MP3 phone that offers GSM/GPRS and tri-band (850/1800/1900) capabilities for global operation with Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) connectivity. In the future, the CL400 will also support Voice over IP (VoIP), based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards.
The two companies first announced a joint collaboration effort to develop dual-mode UMA-enabled handsets in July 2005. LGE is now a Kineto licensee and has included Kineto's UMA-compliant handset client software in the release of the CL400. LGE has confirmed the worldwide availability of the CL400 for testing and trials with major carriers in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"We continue to recognize Kineto as the market leader in providing best-of-breed UMA client solutions for handsets," said Skott Ahn, executive vice president of the Mobile Handset Research and Development Center at LGE. "By collaborating with Kineto, LGE has been able to accelerate the delivery of our new UMA-enabled dual-mode phone, designed specifically to meet the growing demand from mobile operators worldwide."
"LGE continues to dominate the industry through the introduction of innovative, next-generation cellular handsets," said Mark Powell, vice president and co-founder of Kineto Wireless. "As the demand for cellular/WiFi convergence solutions grows, Kineto sees leading companies such as LGE driving the rapid market adoption of UMA-based services."
UMA, a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Program) standard, is an access technology that allows a seamless handoff of mobile voice and data from a wide area cellular network to a wireless local area network (WLAN). The UMA standard defines how mobile operators can turn home, office, and public wireless LANs into seamless extensions of their cellular networks. With UMA, operators can deliver high-performance, low-cost mobile voice, data, and IMS services to subscribers over broadband Wi-Fi access networks, dramatically increasing mobile service usage while decreasing costs for operators.


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Bit Tech reports Cooler Master will release 500 luxurious limited edition Cosmos cases on December 11th. These cases will be rather expensive and they'll feature an all black exterior and design:
Cooler Master said it has no plans to extend the production run beyond 500, but each of the cases will be individually numbered from one to 500 and there will also be some subtle upgrades to the appearance and cooling features.
The upgrades include an all black exterior and interior design, a tinted see-through side panel, up-rated cooling (2 x 140mm top fans and a hard drive cooling module) along with a new name and logo.
Not surprisingly, availability is going to be very limited, but Cooler Master has said that the limited production run will be evenly distributed across the globe – there is, however, no word on pricing, but we're not expecting it to be cheap given its limited edition status.


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VIRGINIA BEACH -- Slice by slice, one Virginia Beach pizza shop is showing its support for the 2nd Amendment by offering 15 percent off to gun owners.
"All they have to do is show me that they're carrying a weapon or they can show me their concealed weapons permit and they can get the discount," All Around Pizza owner Jay Laze says.
He started the offer after a Utah frozen yogurt shop made headlines earlier this month for also giving gun-toters discounts.
"I thought it was a great idea and I was wondering why nobody here was doing it," Laze says. "It should be happening all around the country."
Laze openly carries, and his support for gun ownership is incorporated throughout his business.
"I actually hire delivery drivers that do carry openly."
So far, Laze says the response has been great.
Brendan Kelly openly carries his handgun and says it's nice to see a business appreciate customers like himself.
"It's part of our rights as Americans and everybody should be entitled to the option if they want to, so it's nice to have an incentive," Kelly says.


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Axis Football 2023 is right around the corner, and SGO’s Mike Straw recently had the chance to sit down with Axis Games President Danny Jugan for a full Axis Football 2023 developer interview.
In the interview Mike and Danny talk about the gameplay changes coming to this year’s game along with a number of other topics including:
- What goes into developing the game
- A possible release on Nintendo Switch
- The game’s price
- Licensing plans
What’s New To Axis Football 2023?
New to Axis Football 2023 is a completely overhauled gameplay experience. Gameplay elements improved include a new tackling system with over 300 different tackles, over 200 different interception and pass deflection animations, new defensive back logic, new catching mechanics, throwing mechanics, and more.
The full list is below courtesy of Axis Games:
- Completely overhauled several aspects of gameplay to create a brand new playing and viewing experience
- Redesigned the entire tackling system, adding over 300 different tackles
- Implemented momentum and physics based tackling
- Redesigned the entire defensive back logic and animation system, adding over 200 different interception and pass deflections
- Added primary and secondary precedents to zone coverage
- Redesigned the entire pass catching system, adding over 400 different catches
- Implemented diving, jumping, and sideline catch
- Added new route running, pivot, and cutting movements
- Redesigned the entire QB throwing system, adding over 50 different throws
- Implemented a massively flexible pre-snap motion system for the offense
- Redesigned the UI animation system for cleaner UI navigation
- Massive optimization allows for easy-to-achieve 60 FPS
- Six new stadiums: Cleveland, Buffalo, Houston, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Denver
- Auto-substitutions due to fatigue
- Logos can now be placed on helmets in the team creator suite
- Bug fixes from previous versions
Axis Football 2023 launches in September for PC via Steam with a console release to come shortly thereafter. Those interested can wishlist the game now on Steam.


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Majority of WPP investors rebel over Sorrell's pay
WPP investors have made clear their opposition to chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell's 2011 pay package, which totalled £12.9m, with a 59.5% vote against the company's remuneration report.
Sir Martin Sorrell: WPP chief executive
Although the vote is non-binding, the result has the potential to trigger a rethink from the company of how it rewards its founder and figurehead.
WPP chairman Philip Lader said: "We take the remuneration report vote seriously. We’ll consult with many shareowners and we’ll then move forward in the best interest of our share owners and our business."
Shareholders also targeted Jeffrey Rosen, who as chairman of the company’s remuneration committee approved a 30% increase in Sorrell’s salary and other improvements that contributed to a 56% boost over his overall package for 2010.
The proposal to re-elect Rosen as a director was opposed by 21.8% of shareholders.
Investors have become increasingly activist over executive pay over the past few weeks, resulting in the departures of the chief executives of newspaper group Trinity Mirror and insurer Aviva.
However, just 1.8% of shareholders opposed the proposal to re-elect Sorrell as a director.
Sorrell’s base salary, which WPP claims had stayed at £1m since 2007, was increased to £1.3m in 2011, while the maximum payout he could get from WPP's short-term bonus scheme was increased from three times salary to five times salary.
Sorrell received benefits of £459,000, short-term incentives in cash and shares worth £3.7m, pension contributions of £585,000, dividend equivalents of £1.3m and £5.6m from a long-term incentive award.
The more generous package went through after a significant investor protest over pay at last year's AGM - in that vote 41.8% opposed the remuneration report.
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
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HMRC warns students of scams
HMRC is warning university students to be wary of potential scams, especially if they have a part-time job and are new to interacting with the department.
University students taking part-time jobs are at increased risk of falling victim to scams, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is warning.
Higher numbers of students going to university this year means more young people may choose to take on part-time work. Being new to interacting with HMRC and unfamiliar with genuine contact from the department could make them vulnerable to scams.
In the past year almost one million people reported scams to HMRC.
Nearly half of all tax scams offer fake tax refunds, which HMRC does not offer by SMS or email. The criminals involved are usually trying to steal money or personal information to sell on to others. HMRC is a familiar brand, which scammers abuse to add credibility to their scams.
Links or files in emails or texts can also download dangerous software onto a computer or phone. This can then gather personal data or lock the recipient’s machine until they pay a ransom.
Between April and May this year, 18 to 24-year olds reported more than 5,000 phone scams to HMRC.
Mike Fell, Head of Cyber Security Operations at HMRC, said:
"Most students won’t have paid tax before, and so could easily be duped by scam texts, emails or calls either offering a ‘refund’ or demanding unpaid tax.
"Students, who will have had little or no interaction with the tax system might be tricked into clicking on links in such emails or texts.
"Our advice is to be wary if you are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or personal information. We see high numbers of fraudsters contacting people claiming to be from HMRC. If in doubt, our advice is – do not reply directly to anything suspicious, but contact HMRC through GOV.UK straight away and search GOV.UK for ‘HMRC scams’."
In the last year (September 2020 to August 2021) HMRC has:
- responded to 998,485 referrals of suspicious contact from the public. Nearly 440,730 of these offered bogus tax rebates
- worked with the telecoms industry and Ofcom to remove 2,020 phone numbers being used to commit HMRC-related phone scams
- responded to 413,527 reports of phone scams in total, an increase of 92% on the previous year. In April last year we received reports of only 425 phone scams. In August 2021 this had risen to 3,269
- reported 12,705 malicious web pages for takedown
- detected 463 COVID-19-related financial scams since March 2020, most by text message
- asked Internet Service Providers to take down 443 COVID-19-related scam web pages.
By June this year, more than 680,000 students had applied to university, and over 900,000 held part time jobs during the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
ActionFraud is the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre.
We provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and cyber crime.
The easiest way to report fraud and cyber crime is by using our online reporting tool.Report
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The Rete d’Impresa 4.6, constituted by the companies Gruppo Aro S.p.A., Notarianni S.R.L., Eurolabel S.R.L. and Pilot Italia S.p.A., counts among its customers, since many years, primary companies supplying products of wide consumption and intends to join the strong voices of protest of the Associations, Bodies and Companies of the sector to denounce a crisis situation that has become unsustainable.
“We ali know how difficult it is for ltalian companies to carry out their business activities and to guarantee their workers job stability following the enormous increase in the costs of raw materials and energy recorded in 2021. The self-adhesive labels sector, which concerns Rete d’ Impresa 4.6, has al so been affected since the beginning of the year by the proclamation of the strike of the UPM factories in Finland, which is unacceptable both in terms of modalities and timing. The disruption that such a situation has generateci in the market is quite evident, given that the union agitation has prevented companies in the sector from carrying out normai procurement and regular management of orders and deliveries, and has consequently createci great inconvenience and diseconomies.
The continuation of the socia! conflict in Finland risks to radically block the distribution of food and medicines, as well as many other products, with serious damage to the companies themselves and to the final consumer. lt is therefore necessary that the UPM and the Trade Union make the maximum effort to find immediate agreements that put an end to the conflictual situation and allow the prompt resumption of activities.
There can be no further justification for the fact that UPM and the workers’ union have not yet found the right agreements after two months of work suspension. The common sense of responsibility imposes an immediate and finally constructive dialogue, also taking into account that this insistent conflict is totally disproportionate to the serious damage it is producing on an international scale. lt is the precise duty of ali to avoid the risk of major job losses and major inconvenience to consumers, especially in the delicate food and pharmaceutical sectors”.


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Evian Sparkling is now available at Tesco stores, with both packaging formats recyclable – a 33cl aluminium can and a 100% recycled one-litre PET plastic bottle.
Shweta Harit, VP of marketing at Evian, said: “Evian Sparkling represents new possibilities for the brand, as we reimagine our uniquely sourced water into an exciting new product.
“This new product contains the perfect level of sparkles with its fine bubbles creating a subtle taste and gentle intensity. Available for the first time in recyclable aluminium cans, this latest innovation demonstrates our longstanding pioneering spirit that runs through everything we do at Evian.”
Last year Evian launched a new in-home water ‘bubble’ solution, Evian re(new), with a significant reduction in plastic packaging.
The company was certified carbon neutral globally in spring 2020, and achieved its B Corp status certification in 2021.


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This piece zooms in on the notable enforcement action India’s antitrust regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has recently taken against Google – the tech behemoth. In a battle to ensure fairness and competition in the vast online space, the CCI is probing Google for allegedly imposing unfair terms and discriminatory practices via its ever-popular app store. Let’s unbolt the key elements of this investigation.
1. The heat of the antitrust spotlight on Google – Again!
Seemingly, sticking to its role as a rigorous watchdog, the CCI is seeing red over some of Google’s practices. This is not the first time Google is facing the heat from antitrust regulators globally, emphasizing the continuing scrutiny on the tech giant’s methods of business practices.
2. Alleged abuse of the dominant position in India’s online market
Google’s ubiquitous presence in India’s online marketplace has caught the regulatory scanner. This time, it’s about allegedly misusing this supremacy, making a case of anti-competitive behavior. A reminder that even the biggest of corporations aren’t immune from being accountable for their actions.
3. Unfair terms and discriminatory practices – Charges leveled against Google
It’s worth noting that the core accusation against Google hinges on imposing unequal terms and biased tactics through its app store. If confirmed, this paints a worryingly restrictive picture of the app ecosystem fostered by Google.
4. Breaching the country’s legal provisions
The CCI, evidently unimpressed, called out Google for infringing on multiple legal provisions in its operations. Serious as they sound, the breach allegations could potentially shake Google’s reputation and catapult significant changes in their business model.
5. The ripple effect of this investigation makes it global
While the investigation is deeply rooted in India, the ripples will likely impact Google’s global modus operandi. It underlines the power held by national regulators to influence multinational corporate behavior in favor of creating a more balanced and fair digital landscape.
6. Looming implications of this Investigation
This scrutiny carries with it some substantial implications. Apart from potential fines and penalties, Google may need to tweak its practices to ensure fairness, which can yield significant, far-reaching effects on the tech landscape.
In conclusion, this incident serves as a stark reminder that the online ecosystem, though overwhelmingly large, isn’t a place for unchecked dominance. It also cements the critical role of antitrust regulators in maintaining a level playing field in the digital world.
Credit: BBC. TechCrunch, Reuters